Flickering Like A Candle
by eight.dimensions
Summary: Screwing with girls was a waste of time. That's what Uchiha Sasuke originally thought. But could Haruno Sakura-sensei change his mind? She was different. Well, mainly because she was four years older than him. But hell if he cared. Sasusaku. One-shot.


**yeah, so this is my first naruto fanfic and, unfortunately, it's a one-shot. sorry it's not longer! :P hope you like it. **

**anyway, story is: this is an AU where all the naruto characters are students at konoha high as juniors. except for one. and i think you know that one. but anyway, read and review! :)**

**DISCLAIMER: all the characters of Naruto belong to masashi kishimoto. however, the plot and setting of this fanfic belong to me. if you steal, prepare to die five and a half times.**

There wasn't one girl in school that was good enough for him. It wasn't that he was some sort of godly player, or a cocky guy that felt he was too good for all the girls in the world. It was just that no girl seemed to be special enough. No girl caught his attention. They were just all too ordinary. Hell, he might as well be gay at this rate.

That was precisely what Uchiha Sasuke was thinking the very moment before she entered the classroom. She, as in the new English teacher for Konoha High. Not that it related to his life at all, except for the fact that he probably couldn't sleep in class anymore. Sigh. Although that was kind of the reason why the original teacher had to leave.

Long story short, Sasuke sleeping. Teacher throws pencil at him. Sasuke whacks it away in sleep. Hits teacher. And then something involving a hospital and a leave for fatal infirmities. Evidently, Sasuke was lethal around pencils.

He was planning to sleep right through the newbie's introduction, but his head involuntarily snapped up upon hearing the sound of her voice and all the whistles of every guy in the class. Sasuke opened his eyes only to have them lie upon… bluntly put, the hottest teacher he'd ever seen, not that her looks seemed attractive to him at all, but it was the hard truth. Hot was an understatement.

She was tall and slender, and couldn't possibly be over two years beyond twenty. Her green eyes smiled at the class in an almost seductive gaze, although obviously that was probably just the delusions of all the males in that classroom. She wore a jet black casual-looking, business like outfit that gave a gorgeous contrast to her smooth pale skin and had this light cherry blossom-colored hair that, almost coincidentally, matched her name, Haruno Sakura.

* * *

"Man, she is hot…"

"Have you _seen_ her legs? She's probably a model. Not a English teacher."

"I tell ya, I will never see her as a teacher. No way."

"Will you shut up, guys? I'm trying to sleep…"

"Well, she _is_ rather good-looking."

Sasuke's eyes snapped open, "Not you too, Shikamaru! God damn, you sex fiends need to get a life." He didn't even know why he hung out with these people.

Shikamaru shrugged, nonchalantly, "I'm just stating a fact, Sasuke. But having a pretty teacher is going to be so troublesome…"

"Hey, hey, Sasuke!" Kiba leaned against Sasuke's shoulder, pressing his face into his arms, "Don't tell me you don't feel even the least bit turned on by a teacher that hot?"

"No," Sasuke muttered in a muffled voice, "I don't. And get the fuck off me, Kiba!" He swung his leg around and tripped Kiba from under the desk to get him off himself, and pushed himself off the desk, "It doesn't exactly matter how hot a girl is, it's the personality that counts. Like hell, I'm gonna go after the hottest _bitch_ in the world or something. That'd be stupid." He leaned back on the back legs of his chair with his hands behind his head.

Kiba scratched his head from his sitting position on the floor, "Well, I guess you got a point there, Sasuke. But a guy can dream, right?"

Sasuke scoffed, "You sick fuck. Dreaming can only get you so far. A fantasy and a splooge." He turned on one of the back legs of his chair to face the rest of the guys, "Do you guys seriously not want a real relationship or something?"

Chouji narrowed his eyes at his raven-haired friend, "Sasuke, you are so weird. Stereotypically, guys are the ones who want to fool around and have fun, while girls are off searching for true love, or some shit like that."

Sasuke shrugged, "I just don't think it's worth screwing off over a girl you probably won't like in a couple of months. Seriously, I could spend the time I take pining over a chick doing something useful, not zoning out twenty-four seven. Waste of life, really." He paused in the middle of his rant. Wait, why were they talking about him? He shook his head and glared at the other guys, "Hey, don't avoid the question!"

"You're some human sub-species, I swear to God…" Kiba said under his breath in disbelief.

_"What was that?"_

Shikamaru heaved a sigh and slumped down on top of the table next to Sasuke, "Hey, if you haven't noticed, we're not so much of a girl magnet as you are, Sasuke."

"Yeah, man," Kiba smacked Sasuke across the shoulder, "And hell, we wish we were. While you blow them all off because of your shitty 'wasting life' philosophy, I'd be actually getting girls. You're such a waste, you bastard. I hate you."

Sasuke rolled his eyes and gestured over to a group of girls visible in the hallway from a nearby window, "Liar. What about Hinata?"

A bright red exploded over Kiba's face as he yelled, "Nothing's up with her! Shut up!"

"Yeah, right," Sasuke snorted. Man, he was such a bad liar.

"Oh, guys look, here she comes," Chouji nodded at the door which Sakura just walked through. She moved towards her desk with a nod and a wave at passing students along the way, and sat down, putting her glasses on to correct some essays.

Sasuke almost gagged at the sight of all his friends drooling over his English teacher. Sure, she was attractive and all, he'd respect that. But she couldn't do it justice. Sakura-sensei was nothing more than ordinary. Only ordinary.

* * *

"SASUKE! WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?!" The man yelled at his son, slamming a paper down on the table furiously.

Sasuke spun around glaring, "God dammit, Dad. What is it this time?!" He glanced down at the paper and winced. It was his last essay. He had forgotten to hide it away and forge the grade on a copy like he usually did for his overreacting father.

Sasuke's father opened and closed his mouth several times before yelling again, "An A-, huh? YOU THINK THE ACADEMY IS GOING TO ACCEPT THIS KIND OF GRADE?!"

Sasuke looked away at the floor, trying to repel his father's words with some sort of emotionless force field. It was just like him to blow up at a point off a perfect. Anything lower than a perfect paper, and it was a lecture for the kid.

"You know Itachi always got the perfect grades. The highest test scores! HE GOT INTO THE TOP ACADEMY OUT OF ALL IN THE COUNTRY! AND WHO ARE YOU?! JUST MY FUCKING USELESS SON IN SECOND PLACE! ALWAYS IN SECOND PLACE!" He continued bellowing.

Sasuke closed his eyes. Just let it all sink in. He'd do better next time and his father would stop swaying on the verge of a heart attack every other day of his life.

"Why can't you be more like your brother?! WHY?! Itachi was the one all the neighbors admired. They admired my son! AND WHAT ABOUT YOU?! NOTHING! YOU'LL NEVER BE AS GOOD AS YOUR BROTHER!"

Twenty-two… twenty-three… twenty-four…

"IF YOU DON'T DO BETTER ON THE NEXT EXAM, I'LL DISOWN YOU!! I'LL NEVER ACCEPT YOU AS MY SON EVER AGAIN!"

Calm down. Just block all sounds out or something…

"YOU USELESS, MORONIC, DENSE, LITTLE BASTARD OF A SON! I'LL DISOWN YOU! I'LL FUCKING DIS--"

"So why don't you?"

His father paused in his shouts and stared at Sasuke with beady eyes, as if not believing his son would even thinking about talking back to him. "What… did you say?"

Shit. He spoke. Now he's really screwed. Sasuke bit his lip so hard it almost bled. Well, if he's this screwed already. What the hell then. "Go fuck yourself, you piece of shit." And without even so much as a look back at his father's expression, he sprinted out the front door of his house.

Yeah, now his father was going to disown him for sure… even though he sort of said that he would, like, twice a week. Whatever. He'd just climb through the window to his room and crash there for the night later, which was exactly why he kept that window open all year around, even in the snowy winters.

With his mind momentarily off the fight with his father, Sasuke suddenly began to feel the unbearable burn in his legs. He sprinted non-stop from his house and… for some bizarre reason unknown to man, ended up at his high school. Well, it was still open so he might as well go in. Sasuke stepped through the gates and walked briskly towards his now abandoned classroom, despite the soreness in his quads.

He stepped through the door of this classroom and immediately relaxed. Ah, it was nice. The feeling of a classroom in the afternoon. No teachers. No nerdy students. No lectures. Just a room. A room with a purpose only to the one man that stepped into it. A room that had no meaning until people occupied it within the walls. And right now, this was his room.

Sasuke pushed a couple of desks together by the window and collapsed on top of them, lying in the afternoon sun. He felt calmed by the warm feel of the sun's rays on his lightly tanned skin. He felt soothed by the coolness of the wooden desks he lay upon. He felt relaxed by the soft whispers of beautiful words floating in the air and through the wind--wait. Someone's actually still at this school? And on the _roof_?

Sasuke jumped off the desks and ran out the door towards the stairway to the rooftop. He didn't know exactly _why_ he was running, but it felt like it had a purpose. Like he had to get to the rooftop. Maybe this was what they called the _control of some higher being_. Whatever the hell that was.

He burst through the doors to the roof only to see the silhouette of a girl and the soft voice uttering what sounded like… poetry.

"_Tender loving so kind and so sweet_

_Through the hardships of life_

_Rising over all one meets_

_Heightened by the beatings of a heart through strife_

_Flickering through the black darkness_

_Like a flame swallowing all_

_Then doubt envelops the candle with bliss_

_Hopeful wishes gone with the wind's fall_

_Tender loving so fickle and so fair as this_

_Goes_

_Out_."

Sasuke just stood there frozen, mesmerized by the sound of the woman's voice and her gentle words. That rose-colored hair… it couldn't actually be…? He took a hesitant step closer and opened his mouth to say something, but then was silenced by the woman's words.

"Did you need something, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura turned around with a soft smile on her face.

Sasuke jumped a little, surprised but not. "Er, uh, nice poem, Sensei," He blurted out. Great first impression. You're a moron.

Sakura laughed, "Wow, thanks. I don't suppose you know what it means do you?"

"Uhh," Sasuke shrugged, "I…"

"Oh, what am I saying?" She laughed again gesturing for Sasuke to step closer to her to close the few meters between them, "The boy with the highest English grade in the school and I just asked him if he understood my amateurish poem."

"Highest grade?" Sasuke scoffed. "If I did, then I wouldn't be here right now…" He muttered the last phrase under his breath.

Sakura nudged him playfully, "Yes, you have the highest grade. So why don't you give me your interpretation of my poem. Maybe I'll give you some extra credit." She grinned at him.

It was contagious. Sasuke couldn't help but grin back. He put his hands behind his head and stared at the city through the fence, feeling strangely comfortable with his twenty or so year old English teacher. He narrowed his eyes at the sky, "Hmm, well, it's obviously a love poem."

Sakura giggled despite herself and gestured for him to go on.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. A teacher, but still a kid. "I'd say it's basically the stages of a love life. It starts off with a 'tender' love and then grows until it peaks like a flame that would burn all in its path and never go out, but then you start doubting your relationship and the fickleness and cheating comes in and then basically… the flame goes out. So yeah." He ended lamely. Fuck, he sounded like a girl. He glanced over at his teacher and was surprised to find her just staring at him in turn.

He waved a hand in front of her face, "Uhh, Sensei? You okay? You better not get heat stroke from his sun because I'm a bit too tired to run to the hospital with you on my back or something." What was he doing? Being so casual with a teacher. Maybe it was just because of that _aura_ around her. You just couldn't _not_ be friendly with her.

Sakura shook her head almost dazed, "No, no, I'm just kind of amazed at your insight. Pretty good for a guy at least, because that was exactly what I was thinking when I made that." She sat down on the cement laughing to herself, "What are you, a girl?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes, "Now, I'm not sure if I'm supposed to take that as a compliment or and insult to my gender, sensei."

Sakura patted the spot on the ground next to where she was sitting, gesturing for him to come closer, "A little bit of both, I think." She grinned at him when he plopped down beside her and asked, "So why are you at school so late? I saw you sprint down the road from here on the roof. You looked a bit agitated."

"I--" Sasuke began, but then stopped. What was he doing? Spilling his personal problems before this so-called "hot ass" teacher? Hell, no. Not only did he not want to bother her, why would he be telling anyone other than himself about his family problems? "Uhh, I, um."

Sakura nudged him in the shoulder, "Hey, it's after school, Sasuke-kun. I'm your peer now, not your English teacher. It's not like I'm going to tell you parents what you told me."

"I guess…" Sasuke loosened up a bit. Well, more than a bit. Hell, he hadn't vented to anyone about his maniac dad since… well, basically ever. "… And so yeah, he just completely freaks whenever he sees my grades whether they're great or not, and becomes a total bastard, so I usually end up leaving the house." He finished after a couple of minutes. Damn, did he feel like a girl. Only girls do this "venting" shit.

Sakura just sat there with her arms around her knees. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, smiling to herself with a look that only she knew the meaning of. They sat in silence for a moment as Sasuke waited for some sort of reply when Sakura suddenly started whispering, almost inaudibly over the strong wind.

"_Relationships_

_Between one and their dear_

_Can it be so fragile_

_Like the makings of_

_A thread_

_That could break with one touch_

_Under stress_

_But when moved by gentle fingers_

_It can mend_

_Even the most prodigious_

_Wounds_

_In life._"

"Another poem?" Sasuke raised his eyebrows at his teacher.

Sakura nodded in a matter-of-fact fashion, "Yeah, pretty much. Just think about it when you go home." She giggled to herself. This newbie teacher was kind of weird.

Sasuke put his hands behind his head and laid back, "Well, you know what I'm thinking about right now? How half of your crap poems don't even rhyme." Yeah, I mean, c'mon. English Major, his sexy ass.

"HEY!" Sakura smacked Sasuke across the arm, "I purposely make some not rhyme! And if it shows how I feel how I want it to, then it's a good poem!" She made a pouty face at him and made to turn around, but Sasuke leaned up and grabbed her wrist.

He smirked at her with that irresistible look on his face that nobody could resist. "Hey, hey, hey. Raising a hand against a student is against school rules, _Sakura-sensei_." Ironic how the one man in the entire junior class that followed the rules the least was telling a teacher off for disobedience. Ah, the ways of youth.

Sakura turned a bright pink and tried to yank her hand out of Sasuke's grasp, only to fail utterly. "Well, it's after school, so I'm not your teacher anymore!" She stuck out her tongue at him in a completely nonprofessional manner.

Sasuke almost snorted. It was so hard to think of her as a teacher with the way she acted with him. But then again… maybe he didn't want to. What the hell then. He tightened his hold on her wrist and pulled her a bit closer. "Well, we're still on school grounds," He retaliated, still smirking, "So, you're still technically my teacher. So, then you really did break school rules. And you know what happens to people who break the rules, sensei…" He whispered, locking eyes with her, "You get a--"

A phone rang.

The two listened to the ring tone for a few seconds unmoving and still keeping eye contact. That was weird. Sasuke didn't bring his phone when he sprinted out of his house. And if he did… well, that was a pretty dumb ass ring tone.

Sakura finally turned her head away from Sasuke and reached into her purse for her phone with her free hand. "Sorry, phone." She flipped open her phone and said sighing, "Hello? Oh, yeah, I'm still at school. At… wait, which restaurant? Is Masashi going to be there? He is? Oh, perfect! Okay, I'll meet you there."

Sasuke cringed. Who the fuck was Masashi? …Wait, why the hell was he getting all worked up about some guy with his wo--whoa, whoa, slow down there. Man, he would've killed himself if he almost so much as given that phrase a thought. "His woman." Pah. His sexy ass, more like.

Sakura slipped her cell phone back into her bag and turned back to Sasuke with an apologetic smile, "Well, I got to get going, Sasuke-kun."

"Oh, yeah?" Sasuke muttered, and in reply he got silence. Which was odd. He finally looked up to see Sakura glancing awkwardly down at her wrist. "O-oh, sorry," He stuttered, letting go immediately. What was he thinking, getting so close to her like that?

While Sasuke was completely absorbed in his thoughts, Sakura nudged a little at his shoulder, pushing him back down on the warm cement. He looked at her surprised, but was only given a sly smile in return. "Permission to touch?"

Sasuke was taken back at the sudden formality and said awkwardly, "Uh, yeah, I guess--" But he only barely finished his sentence when he saw Sakura's rosy long hair fall as a curtain around his face and her lips soft against his forehead.

Before he could even comprehend what the hell was actually going on, she jumped up and swung her purse over her shoulder. "See you in class tomorrow, Sasuke-kun. Don't forget that essay you're supposed to turn in. I _am_ your teacher after all." And with another grin and a wave, she left. Just like that.

Sasuke lay frozen on the ground staring up at the sky in utter shock. "What… the fuck was that?"

* * *

The next day passed by almost like a dream. A pretty retarded dream. Seriously, Sasuke rejected almost all the girls in the school in only three years and now he's fantasizing about a fucking _teacher_. And he barely even understood why. Something was wrong with him. Seriously wrong with him. And he need to get help fas--

Sakura glided across the room and pointed at the board mouthing something about what looked like… uhh, whatever it was. The words of the lecture pretty much flew right over his head the entire day. Okay, Sakura was hot and all, that much was the inevitable truth. But today she seemed almost, mesmerizing. Yeah, that would probably be the definition of "staring at her all day". It was just… the way she talked. And the way she moved across the room in that way that made her seem like a… well, he wasn't going to get into the words that described her without sounding extremely corny, but she was just so _different_. The bell rang. She just wasn't the same as all the other girls in the school. Like she didn't care about what others thought or how weird she was. And hell, she was smart.

"Yo, Sasuke how 'bout getting some--hey, Sasuke?"

And her poems? They were just so innocent and so believing. How could anyone _not_ like them?

"Hey, guys, check him out. I don't think he can even hear us right now."

And she was funny too. She could actually keep a conversation with him. Not like all those other fanatics who just swooned at the sight of him, or stuttered their heads off in his presence. Honestly, it _was_ remotely interesting, but sometimes a guy needs a girl that can actually speak.

"Sasuke's a loser! He's a wuss and has a tiny dic--"

"My God, guys! What the hell do you want?!" Sasuke spun around in his chair to face the four guys surrounding him. Wait, why were they all out of their seats? Hell, why wasn't _anyone_ in the classroom?

Kiba backed up a few steps defensively, "Whoa, whoa, man. We were just going to ask if you wanted to buy some food in the cafeteria with us."

"Yeah, teme," Naruto smacked Sasuke across the head with the back of his hand, "If you weren't swooning over sensei all period, you would have actually heard the lunch bell ring."

Sasuke looked over his shoulder at the clock hanging on the wall. Ah. Indeed, the time now said twelve oh five. Five minutes into lunch break. And he didn't even hear the bell…. Lame.

Shikamaru swung himself on to the chair next to Sasuke and looked at him seriously, "Okay, Sasuke. As troublesome as this is, we gotta talk, man."

Sasuke looked at him oddly. What the hell? Talk? About _what_?

Kiba sat on the table behind him and nodded in an overly forlorn manner, "Yes. Talk."

"About _what_?!" Sasuke asked. This was absolutely absurd.

Chouji gulped down a mouthful of chips and said, "Duh, about you, you idiot."

"What did I do?"

"YOU'VE BECOME A GIRL!" Kiba yelled in his face. Wow, blunt much?

Sasuke was taken aback, "What? How?"

Shikamaru sighed, "Hey, man, believe it or not, we do see you staring at sensei like she's the chick you want, okay? Hell, I think everyone noticed it. Well, probably not, but seriously, Sasuke, what the hell's up with you? Yesterday you were all 'no relationships in high school' and all that old man shit and now you're getting all whatever over the fucking _teacher_!"

Sasuke glared at them and said defensively, "No, I'm no--okay, so yeah, I kind of am. So what?" He finished lamely.

Kiba slung an arm around Sasuke's shoulder, "Yo, you are crushing over a fucking teacher. A _TEACHER_. Ring a bell in that dense head of yours?"

Sasuke shrugged, "Yeah, what gives? It's not like it's going to go anywhere. She knows her boundaries." Wait, kissing him on the forehead yesterday didn't really play well within the boundaries of the teacher-student relationship. Maybe he should take that statement back…

Kiba laughed loudly, "OH MY GOD, THAT WAS A GOOD ONE. 'It's not going to go anywhere', says the sex icon of our school. You think even a teacher is going to stay away from you if you want her? Hell, you could get an old lady if you wanted to. Er… not that… you'd want to…"

"Well, the main thing is," Shikamaru cut in, "We were all joking around about it yesterday, but man, the age difference thing doesn't really go well with relationships. I mean, c'mon. She's, what, four years older than you? That's like a senior and a freshman."

Naruto nodded in agreement, "Yeah, the whole going for older women thing? Ehh…" Sasuke nearly fell off his chair. _Naruto_ was giving _him_ advice? The apocalypse was coming.

Kiba sighed, "And I'd hate to say this, but if something really _were_ to happen between you guys, you'd probably get kicked out of school. Hell, sensei would probably get fired!"

Sasuke nodded slowly. Honestly, he already thought of all this crap, but after watching the older woman the entire day. He realized… this one was different. And he wanted her.

He scoffed to himself and muttered, "Then I don't care."

* * *

"Hey, Sasuke-kun. I saw you reject Misa the other day at lunch."

"Yeah, what of it?"

He was here on the roof with Sakura again. Evidently, he really _didn't_ care.

Sakura shrugged, "Well, I heard from some other girls that you rejected almost every girl in school already. Now tell me, is that not _abnormal_ for a guy?"

Sasuke flinched. Which girl spread that rumor around? He ought to destroy her or something. Although it _was_ true. "So what? I'm not going to go out with them if I don't like them. What kind of idiot would do that?"

"Every other guy I know…" Sakura mumbled under her breath, but then said, "Well, are you ever going to get into a relationship in high school, Sasuke-kun? I mean, seriously, this _is_ kind of weird."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. Here we go again. "I don't want to spend my time screwing around with a girl I'm not going to like after a month or two. It's a waste of my time."

Sakura laughed, "And this is coming from a guy who's never been in a relationship."

"Hey! I didn't say that! I just said I didn't want to screw around. I went out with a chick in the beginning of freshman year."

"Did you like it?" Sakura asked, looking at Sasuke intently.

Sasuke let out a melodramatic sigh, "How do you think I got to where I am now? That girl was so fucking fickle and pointless that I wanted to shoot myself or something."

Sakura leaned back on her arms, "Well, that doesn't mean you know everything about relationships, Sasuke-kun. They're more complicated than that, and there are different kinds. You obviously just didn't find the right girl! And watch your language!"

Sasuke looked at her with raised eyebrows, "You sound like you're some sort of expert in this, sensei. Do you have a boyfriend or something?" Dear god, he immediately regretted saying that. What the fuck was he doing? He was getting into the personal life of his own _teacher_.

"Nope."

Sasuke blinked, "What?"

Sakura grinned at him, "I don't have a boyfriend, Sasuke-kun."

"You don't?!" Sasuke said, almost shocked, "But what about that Masashi guy?"

Sakura burst out laughing, "What the hell? I can't believe you even remember that name! He's my brother, you dummy!"

Oh, wow. Boy, did he just make a complete _fool_ out of himself. Sasuke just rolled his eyes and stared at the ground, staying silent. Yeah, maybe he could regain some of his dignity by obtaining nirvana.

Sakura leaned over and peered at Sasuke's face, "Hey, why do you ask? 'Cause if you're trying to get a girlfriend, it should so not be me."

"Why not?" Sasuke asked, despite himself. Aw, hell, he said he didn't care, so he might as well just pursue the damn relationship.

Sakura smacked him playfully on the shoulder, "I'm your teacher, dumbass! You should be going for one of those pretty girls in the class, like, urmm, Ino!"

Sasuke gagged, "_Ino_? Fuck no! I don't like girls like her!"

"Language…" The rose-haired English teacher folded her arms, looking at him, "So what kind of girl _do_ you like?"

Well, she asked for it. Sasuke smirked slyly and then looked at her with a serious look on his face, "Well, I usually go for older girls, maybe, hmm, around four years would be perfect. And since she's older than me, she'd have a profession, preferably teaching since it involves working with other kids. Probably a high school teacher would be cool. And then, hmm, she should be at least decent looking, if she was drop-dead gorgeous that'd be a plus. And I like girls who make up poems, and if the poems all didn't rhyme, it'd be great and if she said them to me all the time, that'd just be fantastic. So yeah. Oh yeah, and I like girls with rose-colored hair." It took Sasuke great effort not to completely crack up after his short monologue, but Sakura's mere countenance nearly broke him.

Sakura just stared at him, and then laughed nudging him in the arm, "I'm the only one you know with pink-hair, you dummy!"

Sasuke smirked at her, "That's what you think…"

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?"

Sasuke laughed and turned away from her leaning against the fence lining around the edge of the roof. "No, nothing at all," He said vaguely.

Sakura folded her arms pouting, "Hey, tell me! Are you just playing me? Because seriously, I'm the only girl the world with this genetic disorder." Upon hearing Sasuke's sustained silence, Sakura scooted closer to him and glared right in his face, "I'll give you an F on the analysis you turned in today if you don't tell me! Then see what your dad'll make of that!"

Sasuke's jaw dropped, "Hey, you can't do that!"

"Yes, I can," Sakura grinned evilly and turned away from him, "And I will!" She reached into the pocket of her slacks and pulled out a sheet of paper, "And what's this? I have it right here."

Sasuke lunged for it, "Hey, give me that! What kind of teacher are you?"

Sakura jumped up onto her feet and out of his way. "A good one," She grinned, "But an evil one when it comes to Sasuke-kun, my _favorite_ student."

"Favorite student, my sexy ass," Sasuke got to his feet and grabbed at it again, "All you do is pick on me when I fall asleep!"

"You'd do it too if you were me. You have no idea how much fun it is," Sakura ran across the rooftop waving the paper tauntingly in his direction, "Throwing random pens at you when you fall asleep in class." Which happened distressingly often, unfortunately for Sasuke.

Sasuke ran after her, "Damn it, stop fooling around, Sakura!"

"_Sakura_?" She stopped abruptly and Sasuke nearly ran into her.

They stared at each other for a moment before Sasuke realized the meaning of what he just said. Since when was him and his teacher on first-name basis? Never. But why'd he just blurt it out?

Sakura folded up his essay and slipped it back into her pocket, clearing her throat, "Well, Sasuke-kun, the sun's setting, so I guess you should be getting home soon. I still have a couple of papers to grade." She avoided his eyes, her bangs nearly covering the whole top half of her face.

Sasuke scratched the back of his head awkwardly, "Yeah. I guess I should be going, huh?" He walked over to where they were originally sitting, picked up his backpack, and walked back, once again entering that awkward silence enveloping the atmosphere. "Will I see you here again? Tomorrow?" It came out in such a low voice that he was afraid she almost didn't hear it. But then again, maybe that was what he wanted.

Sakura looked up at him with the usual smile on her face with no trace of awkwardness in her eyes.

"_If a breeze of wind_

_Blows on its course_

_Absentmindedly passing by,_

_Who says that someday_

_It won't pass by again?_"

Maybe she didn't come the next day, but at least next week she did. Sasuke guessed that she was a tad bit too busy to linger up on the roof everyday, but, well, she _was_ his teacher after all.

* * *

"Hey, Sasuke, let's go to the movies after school," Kiba propped his elbow on top of Sasuke's sleeping head and nudged him in the ribs with his knee.

"Yeah, there's that new Miyazaki movie that came out just yesterday," Shikamaru sat on his desk promptly waking him up, "How 'bout it?"

Sasuke pushed his head off his arms and sat straight up in his chair stretching, "Guys, you know I don't watch movies."

Naruto smacked him over the head, "Don't be such a tightwad, teme. Ever heard of hanging out? It's rather fun. And it involves not being a nerdy moron."

"Shut the fuck up, Naruto."

"Hey, just a suggestion."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes, "You guys are so troublesome. Just say if you're going or not 'cause we're leaving the moment English is over."

Sasuke scratched his head and looked from the crumpled up piece of paper in his hand, to his inch-long pencil on his desk (happily accompanied by the other pencils thrown at his head throughout the entire period), and then up at Sakura explaining a rather complicated grammar rule to another student. He stuffed the paper in his pocket and sighed, "Yeah, sure."

* * *

Sakura caught the last few words of Sasuke's conversation from across the room, despite the fact that she was lecturing another student. Well, that only took about a fifth of her brain power anyway.

"Yeah, sure." She heard Sasuke reply. Sakura could just imagine him give Kiba that shrug of his and go back to sleep until the end of the period. Suddenly, her expression completely changed from her usual peppy smile to a forlorn stare. That meant that he wasn't going to the roof that afternoon.

Her student looked up at her from her seat at the table, "Is something wrong, sensei?"

Sakura snapped back into reality and pulled out a forced smile, "No, I'm alright. I just remembered something I need to do after school." Like grade some papers and then go home. It wasn't like she was obsessed with seeing Sasuke or anything. It was just that… she actually hadn't gone to the roof in over a month because of the overload of papers she was getting before the end of the school year.

She sighed after dismissing her student. Well, it didn't matter anymore. She'd just spend the rest of the day catching up with grading the essays.

Fifty essays and three coffees later, Sakura was in the washroom splashing water on her face to get herself out of the daze she was stuck in from two hours of grading those papers. Being was teacher was great and all, but grading was the most boring shit in the universe. Usually she'd look forward to those rare occasions where she and Sasuke _actually_ happen to be on the roof at the same time. But today, she didn't have that hopeful thought in the back of her mind. Today she _knew_ he wasn't going to be there.

Sakura took one last look at her solemn expression in the mirror on the bathroom wall and then stalked off back to the classroom. She glanced out the window in the hallway. Ah. The sun was about to set. Now, that really crossed out the possibility that he could've came back. She usually told him to bolt by then anyway. Stupid move really.

She walked back into the classroom and was about to grab her bag to go home, when something on her desk caught her eye. Something that wasn't exactly there before. What in the world? A piece of paper? It'd better not be some late essay page a student dropped in.

Sakura picked it up to find on the surface, a messily written… poem?

"_A new day awakens and shows its face_

_To mark another year gone by_

_With you still living in its place_

_Growing high and near out of sight_

_I can't chase you, I can't find you_

_I want to show you down deep_

_How I sought after that one dream to_

_Bring you to believe what I see_

_I don't care how society loathes the feel_

_The difference doesn't faze me_

_So go find my dream despite the fear_

_Before the sun sets for leaving_."

She read aloud. This was… odd. For one thing, this didn't really make sense. Well, it was either the fact that whoever wrote this was really stupid, or really clever. Anyone else who read this most likely wouldn't guess what the hell the poem actually implied, but Sakura sure as hell did.

Which was why it was so weird. She hadn't told anyone in school her birthday! Except for… no way. No, no, no. It couldn't be him. But she _did_ mention it once on the roof, although how could he remember that? No, it wasn't him. It must've been Masashi pulling some dumb ass prank on her. Though he probably wouldn't do it at school if he wanted to surprise her for her birthday. And besides, the sun was about to set! Wait. The sun? THE SUN. What if it _was_ him?

Sakura glanced back at the poem and scanned it wildly. The assignments were usually typed, but… that writing. There was no doubt that that messy, illegible handwriting was his.

Sakura crumpled the paper in a tight fist and sprinted towards the stairway to the roof despite her wearing heels. "Please be there, please be there…" She whispered desperately. She burst through the door to the roof and…!

Empty.

He was gone? He left already? No… why? Why was she so _stupid_?! If she just graded her papers faster, or realized it was him sooner, he wouldn't have left! Or maybe she could've ran into his in the hallway! Stupid, stupid, stupid! Sakura ran to the fence and yelled to the sky, "Why'd you leave, you idiot?!"

"Who's an idiot?"

Sakura spun around at the sound of the strangely familiar voice behind her. And there he was, jumping off the roof of the room for the stairway.

Sasuke took a few steps away from the stairway with his hands in his pockets and a slight smirk on his face. He stopped a couple of meters away from his stunned teacher. "I asked 'who's an idiot', sensei," He repeated, grinning a wider at the expression on her face.

Sakura slowly meandered towards her student, almost in a daze. She held up the crumpled poem in her hand and asked in a small voice, "Did you write this poem?"

Sasuke shrugged, "Who else would write his teacher an insanely romantic poem and stick it on her desk in plain view? And no one else knows your birthday, sensei."

Plain view? Sakura blinked. Wow, then she really must've been absorbed in her essays if she hadn't seen it. She shook herself out of her dazed stupor and uttered just two words, "But why?"

Sasuke shrugged again, but this time adding an almost guilty grin. "You read it, right? Well, yeah, or else you wouldn't even be here. I said on there that I wanted you to know how I felt in this dream. Don't get me wrong. I _know_ society's rules. I know the limits that are supposed to be between us. But how am I supposed to hold my heart back from doing whatever the hell it wants to do? It knows nothing, and so it just… openly fell for you."

Sakura said nothing. She was in shock from this sudden romantic side to him that she'd never seen even a hint of before.

Sasuke scratched the back of his head, slightly embarrassed, but still suave in his confession. "You know everything about me. You know how I am with women and how I just never go for them. Honestly, that's what I thought, but you were so different. You caught my eye the way no one else would. Just the way you smile, the way you teach, the way you talk… the way you talk to _me_. Sakura. I like you. I really like you." He ended almost awkwardly. Really, it was kind of weird for him, this whole confession thing. Man, honestly he was never going to do this again. _Way_ too romantic.

Sakura took a second to find her voice again before whispering in disbelief, "You like… me?"

Sasuke paused and then said, "Yeah."

"Impossible."

"What?"

Sakura shook her head to regain her composure and said louder, "This is completely impossible! I'm dreaming or something! You like me? Ha, literally, _in my dreams_."

Okay, now she's just going nuts. Sasuke raised his eyebrows and shook his head slowly, "No, I can pretty much assure you that this is real."

Sakura scoffed, "Real? Real, you say? If this was real, Sasuke-kun wouldn't have waited here for me until I finished grading my essays. He would've gone to the movies, or whatever, with his friends! If this was real, Sasuke-kun wouldn't have written this poem to get a girl. He wouldn't _be_ getting a girl! If this was real, Sasuke-kun wouldn't have confessed his love for me! He wouldn't even like me back--! Shit." Sakura covered her mouth terrified.

Sasuke's eyes widened, "'Like me back'?" He almost laughed, "You like me back?"

"No-I-don't!" Sakura said hastily, but winced when Sasuke just grinned, seeing through how obvious her denial was.

Sasuke bit his lip, smirking to himself, "Then… it's mutual then, huh Sakura?"

"No, no, no, no, no!" Sakura shook her head fiercely, "Don't say that!"

"Why?"

"Because…!" Sakura looked at the ground, her hair covering her almost sad expression, "Teacher student relationships just… don't work, Sasuke-kun. If any part of this conversation got out, I could get fired. Or even worse, you could get expelled! This should just… stay as a secret. We should just forget everything--"

"But you like me back?" Sasuke interrupted in a low voice.

Sakura looked up from the ground at the raven-haired student, "Yes, but--"

"Then does it look like I care?" In almost no time at all, Sasuke crossed the small length of distance between them and locked his mouth over hers. Wrapping his arms around Sakura's waist, he pushed her back step by step until they hit the fence and kissed her passionately.

Sakura could barely breathe, much less comprehend what in the world was going on. And it didn't help when she suddenly felt Sasuke's tongue slip into her mouth, deepening the kiss even more. And before she knew it… she found herself kissing him back, sliding her own arms around his neck and relaxing into the strong arms of her own student.

Sasuke slid one hand up her back to rest over her cheek, caressing her soft skin. They kissed for what must've been ages, varying between deep French kisses and soft ones, lips barely touching. But it only felt like seconds.

Warmed by more than only the heat of the setting sun, they finally broke away, breath heavy and hearts racing. Sasuke rested his forehead against Sakura's and said in a low voice, "I'll be graduating after next year."

Sakura tightened her arms around his neck and whispered, "I know."

"Until then," Sasuke looked deep into her eyes and grinned, "will you wait for me?"

Sakura giggled, nodding slowly, "I think, I'll probably still love you by then."

The raven-haired boy raised an eyebrow, "What happened to the whole flickering like a candle thing?"

"I didn't deny it," Sakura smiled at her newfound love and pulled him in for another kiss. She whispered against his lips, "We'll just make the best of it at its brightest flame."

"Sounds good to me."

* * *

**so yeah, that's that. anywho, if you liked this one-shot, PLEASE TELL ME :) 'cause if i get enough reviews, there will be more sasukexsakura one shots to come! well, honestly speaking, they'll come whether or not i get reviews at all. but it's a nice plus, haha.**

**oh by the way, i JUST noticed that the masashi guy in this has the same name as masashi kishimoto. wow, i had no idea when i wrote this, i swear. but i bet kishimoto is out there somewhere thinking how much he really **_**does**_** want to be sakura's brother. hell, i do too. although that'd be mildly difficult because i'm a girl.**

**reviewing is for cool people. ergo, if you review you will be deemed cool.**


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